Pakistan-Afghanistan border shut for third day

Pakistan-Afghanstan talks remain inconclusive, says Kabul’s Ambassador in Islamabad Omar Zakhliwal

ISLAMABAD: Talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the border crossing at Torkham ended in a stalemate on Thursday, leaving thousands of people stranded along both sides of the border.

For the third consecutive day the border crossing at Torkham remained shut.

Pakistani authorities closed the border on Tuesday after Afghan border forces prevented fencing along the border to stop illegal cross-border movements. Thousands of people and vehicles are stuck up on both sides of the border, witnesses said.



“Afghan defence and interior ministry officials held talks with a Pakistani delegation to solve the Torkham problem, but the talks ended without (yielding) any result and the border is still closed,” , Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad Omar Zakhliwal said.

He urged his countrymen not to exert pressure on the government’s negotiating team and tolerate all problems for the sake of ‘national interest and Afghan pride’.

Kabul, according to Zakhliwal, will continue its efforts to negotiate the reopening of the border. He urged authorities on both sides to rise above such issues.

At his weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria confirmed that the Torkham border crossing had been shut down temporarily due to differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan over new border control measures.

“You are aware that the border between the two countries is porous. Illegal crossings and other associated issues are major challenges for both countries,” the spokesman said.



In order to address the situation, he said, the government of Pakistan had decided to implement border control measures at Torkham for effective border management.

“It is in the interest of the two countries to have a well-regulated border. There were differences between the two sides on the implementation of measures to manage and regulate the border, due to which the border has been temporarily closed,” he added.

He, however, pointed out that both sides were in contact with each other through the military-to-military channel to address this issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2016.